St. Patricks Well

Situated on poorly drained grassland. A ringfort (WM018-058----) lies c. 30m to SW. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a circular-shaped feature which is annotated 'St. Patrick’s Well'. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a circular-shaped feature enclosed within a small S-shaped area and annotated 'St. Patrick’s Well'. Holy well described in 1976 as a trapezoidal shaped masonry well defined by drystone flags. The water is stagnant and there is a blocked outflow channel in the N corner. Well is located within a small rectangular-shaped enclosure bounded by a modern drystone wall. Hawthorn, alder and briars are located within the enclosure. There are no rags visible which could suggest that it has gone out of use. There are a series of irregular earthen banks to the NW and SE of the well. These earthworks probably represent the remnants of a relict field system of uncertain antiquity. Monument is visible as an overgrown area on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 04 February 2019

St. Patrick’s Well is associated with the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, and is traditionally believed to have curative properties, particularly for ailments of the eyes and general health. The well’s name and depiction on early Ordnance Survey maps suggest a long-standing local Christian tradition, possibly reflecting the spread of Irish monastic influence in the region during the early medieval period.